Five more top US and international firms have cut deals with US President Donald Trump, offering a combined total of $600m in pro bono and other legal work in exchange for protection from potential executive orders, according to posts on the president’s Truth Social account on Friday (11 April).
Kirkland & Ellis, A&O Shearman, Simpson Thacher, and Latham & Watkins have agreed to provide $125m in legal services each, while Cadwalader has agreed to $100m.
The news comes a week after Skadden cut its own deal offering $100m in pro bono services, followed by Willkie on 1 April and Milbank on 2 April. These eight firms were among 20 contacted by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on 17 March requesting detailed data on all applicants and hires since 2019.
Paul Weiss became the first firm to reach an arrangement with the administration on 21 March, agreeing to provide $40m in pro bono services in return for an executive order against it being dropped.
The new deals bring the total value of pro bono and free legal services work secured by the administration to $940m.
According to Trump’s posts, all five firms have pledged their pro bono services ‘to causes that President Trump and the law firms both support and agree to work on’, including providing assistance to veterans and public services, ensuring fairness in the justice system, and combating antisemitism.
The president has also mused publicly about enlisting the firms to work on coal leasing deals, as well as using them to represent the administration in trade policy negotiations over sweeping tariffs that have sent ripples through the global economy since they were first imposed on 2 April.
According to the site, the firms have also agreed to drop what the President’s posts called ‘illegal DEI discrimination and preferences’, and affirmed that they would not deny representation to clients ‘because of the political views of individual lawyers’.
In exchange, the administration announced that the EEOC has withdrawn the letters it sent to the firms on 17 March requesting detailed data on all applicants and hires since 2019.
The administration has also agreed not to pursue any claims related to issues of hiring and employment practices’ compliance with discrimination legislation raised in the EEOC letters.
Firms are cutting pre-emptive deals to protect themselves from both EEOC enforcement and further executive action.
Of the firms to have come to arrangements with the administration so far, only Paul Weiss was subject to an executive order directed against it. The order suspended all security clearances held by Paul Weiss employees, directed federal agencies to review and terminate all contracts with Paul Weiss, and limited Paul Weiss personnel’s access to all federal buildings.
In an email to staff published by David Lat on his Substack ‘Original Jurisdiction’, Paul Weiss chair Brad Karp described the order as an ‘existential crisis’, and argued that the deal was the best way for the firm to fulfil both its obligation to its clients and its ‘fiduciary duty’ to its employees.
Some firms, however, are fighting the orders, with Perkins Coie, WilmerHale, and Jenner & Block each achieving court rulings placing a temporary hold on the orders issued against them.
Last Friday, Susman Godfrey became the fourth firm to file suit against the administration, arguing in its complaint that: ‘Unless the Judiciary acts with resolve – now – to repudiate this blatantly unconstitutional Executive Order and the others like it, a dangerous and perhaps irreversible precedent will be set.’
‘Put simply’, the complaint continues, ‘this could be any of us.’
Several associates have publicly resigned from firms that have made deals with the administration, along with Paul Weiss special counsel for pro bono Steven Banks and Willkie senior counsel (and longest-serving lawyer at the firm) Joseph Baio.
While no current partner has resigned from any of the firms in protest, Goodwin partners Neel Chatterjee and David Cross established Law Firm Partners United (LFPU), an informal network for partners at top 200 firms to organise and speak out for the rule of law.
At time of writing, LFPU has nearly 600 members on LinkedIn.
The president’s social media posts announcing the most recent batch of deals closed with a statement attributed to Kirkland chair Jon Ballis, A&O Shearman senior partner Khalid Garousha, Simpson Thacher executive committee chair Alden Millard, and Latham chair and managing partner Richard Trobman.
‘Today, our Firms reached an agreement with President Trump and his Administration, including the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)’, the firms said.
‘We have resolved this matter while upholding long-held principles important to each of our Firms: Equal Employment Opportunity; providing pro bono assistance to a wide range of underserved populations, and ensuring fairness in the Justice System; and representing a broad spectrum of clients on various matters. We look forward to a continued constructive and productive relationship with President Trump and his team.’
